Traditional spear of PLA

Throughout the history of China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, we will find that as early as 500 years ago, the Ming army had been equipped with a large number of firearms, that is, modern hot weapons and hot weapons. In fact, firearms were used as early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, but in terms of scale and types, it reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, thunderbolt guns, shotguns, cannons, grenades, rockets and other firearms were all equipped in the military. According to the dragon artifact array, there are dozens of rockets alone. At that time, mines and mines were invented, and more advanced and powerful firearms were introduced from Europe, such as large afterloading guns, franc guns and red guns. Not only 10% of the garrison equipment in various places is firearms, but also a special force equipped with firearms-Ji Shenying, which is in charge of the firearms in the army and is under the direct command of the emperor.

When the Qing army entered the customs, it was hit by many bright weapons, especially the French machine gun and the red cannon, which were extremely lethal. If some of the Ming army did not bring a large number of firearms to the Qing army after surrender, it would take longer and lose money.

In the Ming dynasty, great progress was made in the invention and equipment of firearms, the study of western bubbles and the theoretical works on firearms production. If this trend continues, the Qing army who tasted the power of firearms should develop and equip a large number of firearms in the army on a larger scale. In fact, the use of firearms played an irreplaceable role in resisting the forces of the Ming army, San Francisco and Zheng He in the early Qing Dynasty, and in pacifying the northwest frontier.

But since then, the Qing dynasty has not continued to increase investment in firearms. Although it is also a large number of military equipment, the scale of equipment is indeed larger than that of the Ming army, but the firearms equipped are still those old-fashioned firearms left by the Ming army, and the progress is not great. The Qing emperor was afraid that powerful firearms would flow into the hands of Han Chinese who opposed the Qing Dynasty and regained their sight, endangering their dominant position, and even destroying some important firearms works left over from the Ming Dynasty, resulting in the loss of some key production technologies of gunpowder and firearms.

Later, when needed, I could only turn to western missionaries for help. By the middle and late Qing dynasty, the Qing dynasty in Dingguo began to slack off its military equipment, and it was very good to distribute broadswords and spears according to the organizational system, let alone develop new weapons.